Secrets at SPR
by Wink987
Summary: MAJOR SPOLERS! I MEAN REALLY REALLY BIG SPOILERS! Naru isn't the only with secrets at SPR, Mai has secrets that influence if she lives or dies...Can SPR save  Mai before its too late? I'm all for MaiNaru


**Chapter 1**

Mai set down her school bag (she was now two months into her senior year) beside her desk in the office and sighed quietly. She heard an arrogant voice calling out to make tea and she forced her weary body to do as her boss wanted. On the outside, Mai was the always cheerful, naïve girl that everyone loved but her reality was much different. She hid everything behind a smile and even the all knowing infamous narcissistic didn't scratch the surface. As Mai made the tea, she recalled everything that had happened since she had begun work at SPR. The doll case, where she found out about her powers, the Urado case where she had to experience some of the most terrifying things and the cursed case where part of Naru, or she should say Davis-san's secret was revealed. Once his God-like powers were known throughout the group, everyone began to guess just what else he was hiding. She remembered after a case, they had gone to a lake, that's where _**he **_was found.

Mai had instantly recognized him as 'Dream Naru', since over the various cases she knew the difference in how 'Dream Naru' and 'Real Naru' looked like. She didn't understand why they looked different, since 'Dream Naru' was supposed to be her imagination. The difference in their personalities also confused her as well; she had come to love 'Dream Naru' as a big brother and 'Naru' as something more.

_(Flashback)_

She didn't say anything at the lake; she didn't look expectantly at Naru to explain but left the decision up to him. Whether to let people think what they like, others' opinions don't matter to him anyway, and go back to England without a second glance or explain everything and go back to England, knowing that the people he had come to call friends forgave him for the lies. He chose to explain all about, Gene's death, aka 'Dream Naru' and coming to Japan to find the body. Naru looked everyone in the face whilst explaining apart from Mai. He didn't want to see her pain-stricken face and tears in her eyes. It seemed Mai didn't want to look him in the face either; she had turned away from them all throughout it all, looking out over the lake.

After the much-needed explanation, Naru found himself almost desperately wishing for her to look at him. He had prepared himself for tears, anger and accusations but not for the unbearable silence between them. The others had begun to say things like, 'that explains it all' but he had zoned out of their voices to focus entirely on Mai. Monk-san was the first to realize that Naru did care about their reactions but right now he wanted only Mai's. He silenced everyone but Ayako, who started to get angry and bashed him over the head with a chair that seemed to come from no-where, for trying to quiet her. He glared at her and inclined a head over at Naru who was taking small, cautious steps towards Mai. Ayako's eyes widened in realization and thought, 'We all felt hurt at Naru lying to us, and Mai must be suffering the most. She worked with him closely almost every day.'

Lin-san stared at the ground, ashamed with himself since he had become good friends with the petite, Japanese girl and had lied to her to protect Noll's (Oliver's) secret as much as possible. Lin felt terrible and wondered is she would ever forgive them. His hands tightened into fists by his sides as a wave of self- loathing drowned his senses. No-body deserved to be lied to and deceived like he and Noll had done to Mai. If he was in Mai's shoes, he would never forgive himself and Noll. He then made a vow to himself, 'I'm going to do whatever it takes to get Mai to forgive me. She's important to me, almost like a little sister, despite being Japanese, I'm not going to let her just walk out of my life.'

Mai knew Naru wanted to talk to her and could hear him slowly coming towards her. Everyone else was silent, watching them to see what would happen. She stood looking over the lake, digesting everything what was said and she finally understood why everything that had happened had happened in that way. She didn't have any bad feelings towards Naru, even though he did lie to her, she could understand why he did it. Neither did she regret anything that had happened, or that had been said. Her time working at SPR heightened her senses, made her feel new kinds of terror that both scared her to be able to feel it and excited her more than anything. Since she had become an orphan, Mai always believed that all good things had to come to an end, and that was why she was always looking for the good things in life, just so she wouldn't run out. Mai had known for a while now that her time at SPR would end, it was one of the good things for having ESP abilities and she had braced herself.

Naru reached out a hand to touch Mai's shoulder but withdrew it quickly. He didn't know what to do and looked to Lin desperately for help. Lin caught the look but shook his head as if to say this is something you must to do on your own. Naru took a deep breath and said Mai's name with a hint of nervousness. She turned around and a sudden wind blew her hair and skirt to the side. The light reflected off her skin showing no blemishes and she had a hand up to her head to stop the wind from blowing her hair into her eyes. Her eyes held the curiosity to why Naru had said her name but Naru could not tell what she was thinking or feeling otherwise. The only thing Naru could think of when he saw the wind playing with Mai's hair and skirt was 'wow'. He stared blankly at her cinnamon eyes, burning the light and speckles dotting around her irises into his memory. Naru realized that just how close he had gotten to Mai and suddenly got the urge to hold her in his arms but Naru was not the type to act on instinct. He stepped back and made sure his mask over his emotions was on before saying,

'I'm sorry.'

Naru saw a flash of surprise cross Mai's features and she then did the unexpected; she laughed quietly. It was now Naru's turn to be surprised and the surprise only increased when Mai replied,

"What do you have to be sorry for?"

Her laugh was like a tinkle of bells and Naru wanted to hear more and be the one who made her laugh. The sudden thought of anyone else making her laugh and her enjoying anyone's, especially male, company made Naru want to punch something or that person who had been making her laugh. He focused his train of thought back to the present and he managed to splutter, although it was very uncharacteristic for him to do so,

'You're not mad at all?'

'Of course I'm not mad; I understand why you did what you did.'

Naru looked at Mai in compete and utter shock. If he had been her, he would have been plotting murder but that wasn't to say, he wasn't glad Mai didn't want to kill him. Naru was still staring at Mai and didn't notice when she stood right in front of him, waving a hand in front of his eyes. His eyes soon came into focus on to Mai's face and he suddenly grabbed her into a hug. Mai squeaked in surprise and had to bite the inside of her check to stop her face blushing a new shade of red. It didn't work completely and a light blush surfaced across her nose. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lin signal for everyone to leave them alone, Masako hesitated but then sighed in defeat. Mai stiffened even more when they were alone but Naru just hugged her tighter. He had his head buried in her hair and his arms were around her small waist like he never wanted to let go. He discreetly inhaled the smell of her hair and a shiver ran up his spine from the feel of his arms around Mai. Naru felt as though he was in heaven.

Mai was in a completely different dilemma. Since she had met Naru, she had done nothing but dream of Naru holding her so closely. She knew Naru had to go back to England, that she'd never see his face or hear his voice again. Well maybe just his voice over the telephone if he wanted to stay in touch but if he did, he would most likely give her an e-mail address. She didn't want to get anymore attached or in love with Naru than she already was and they were practically strangers. Even after all the time, they had worked together, she had no idea what his favourite colour or food was. For Heaven's sake, she had only just learnt his real name! The only conversations they had with each other were either about work or passing insults back and forth. Mai didn't want saying goodbye to be any harder than it already was and Naru was just making it worse.

Naru reluctantly let go of Mai, figuring that she needed to breathe to stay alive but didn't move any further away. He let his arms dangle loosely around her waist to stop her from running and stared down at her. Mai was focusing intently on the ground, refusing to look Naru in the eye and he frowned because he wanted to see her face again. He lifted a hand to her chin and titled her face upwards to face him. Naru moved his thumb in a soothing, circular motion on Mai's chin, relishing the feel of her soft skin. He was looking at her eyes, searching for what she could be feeling or thinking but he only saw shock at what he was doing. Naru suddenly dropped her chin and stepped a few steps back. He looked at Mai in panic and ran a troubled hand through his black rakish hair. Mai just looked at him in amused surprise and Naru started to speak in a hoarse whisper,

'Why? Why can't I tell what you're feeling? I've always been able to…'

Naru was cut off by Mai's light laugh and voice,

'Do I always have to show what I'm feeling?'

Naru managed a small wry smile and nodded unable to say anything else. He was still in shock that Mai, the girl who supposedly always wore her heart on her sleeve, was able to put up defences against him and hide her emotions from him. It made him wonder if she had ever did the same before and the thought of not knowing Mai as much as he thought he did made him feel sick. It then hit Naru like a cold slap to the face. Just what did he know about Mai? He thought he knew she couldn't hide her feelings but he was proved wrong. He didn't know anything about her deceased family or what music she liked, just nothing. Mai seemed to know what he was thinking and walked over, placing a gentle hand on his arm. She said in a soft almost whisper

'I just learnt your real name.'

She laughed lightly again in the irony of it all and looked up at him with warm, but not revealing any emotion, eyes and said,

'We hardly know anything about each other but despite everything, that doesn't change the fact I consider you a good friend'.

Naru's eyes changed from panic to his normal reserved mask but then allowed a little warmth to seep through. He gestured with his head back to the van and they both walked side by side in companionable silence, both thinking,

'I want to be more than friends…'

_(End Flashback)_

Mai finished preparing Naru's tea and set it on a tray, with rice crispy buns. She had discovered that Naru loved junk food especially baked sugary goods and she really had no idea where all the fat went. She also found out Lin had a selected taste of fresh food but mostly liked the occasional fruit dumpling or a few chocolate digestives. Mai called out to see if Lin wanted tea also and was already reaching for his favourite snacks, knowing the answer. She passed Lin's office first, handing him what he wanted, with a warm smile and walked straight into Naru's office. Mai had long stopped knocking, just to peeve Naru off and her inside Mai smirked when Naru's left eyebrow twitched in annoyance. She set down his tea and snack beside the papers he was working on and he leaned back watching her through half closed, though still scrutinizing eyes. Mai fought to control the temperature of her face and the urge to run from the intimating gaze. She managed to control her blush as well as quench her feeling to run and she concentrated on setting everything out. She didn't notice the light stain of pink of her boss's cheeks when she accidentally brushed against his arm and didn't notice the flicker of disappointment when she tripped and **didn't** fall into his lap. After finishing, Mai walked briskly towards the door but was stopped by Naru speaking in a drawling tone,

'Are you not going to wait until I say thank you?'

Mai knew it was a rhetorical question and also knew Naru never said 'please and 'thank you' to her because it annoyed her. It was his way of getting back at her for not knocking. She turned around, the tray held to her chest and said in an innocent yet dangerous tone,

'You and I both know, your capability to be polite to me is almost impossible.'

Naru chuckled in self-satisfaction, knowing he had got to her, and Mai growled under breath and bubbled silently in rage until she came up with a comeback. In a mocking tone, Mai said with increasing anger,

'Until you learn to be a gentleman towards even your lowly assistant, I'm going to come in without knocking and even add in an extra.'

With the word 'extra', Mai walked out of Naru's office and slammed the door so hard the glass rattled. She could just picture the smirk disappearing from Naru's face and that's exactly what did happen. Inside the office, Naru repeatedly hit his head of the edge of his desk and between hitting his head said to himself in an exasperated voice,

'The only way I can show her I care, is through insulting! I'm an idiot!'

End of Chapter 1 


End file.
